Reading 1
Col 2:6-15
Brothers and sisters:
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,
rooted in him and built upon him
and established in the faith as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy
according to the tradition of men,
according to the elemental powers of the world
and not according to Christ.
For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily,
and you share in this fullness in him,
who is the head of every principality and power.
In him you were also circumcised
with a circumcision not administered by hand,
by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead in transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;
despoiling the principalities and the powers,
he made a public spectacle of them,
leading them away in triumph by it.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:1b-2, 8-9, 10-11
R. (9) The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Gospel Lk
6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
Meditation: Colossians 2:6-15
“… rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith… “(Colossians 2:7)
It’s funny how information has become a vital aspect of just about every part of our lives. From weather reports to e-mail updates to Internet news sources to television schedules, we all have so much data in our minds. So the question arises: What database am I utilizing to help me make decisions?
In today’s first reading, St. Paul tells the Colossians that if they are rooted in their faith, they won’t be at the mercy of the “empty, seductive” philosophies in the world. Not only will they be able to stand firm against temptation, they will also be able to discern good from evil in their environment. Why? Because being rooted in faith will give them a strong foundation, a database of truths that they will be able to use as the standard for making judgments.
The key is to fix our eyes on Jesus and try our best to live out the truths of our faith. In a sense, we are in an even better position than the Colossians! We have two thousand years of history and teaching from the church to add to our database. We have countless saints whose lives teach us new dimensions to the most important truths we need to know: God loves us unconditionally; Jesus died for our sins; the Holy Spirit lives in us; and Jesus is coming back to establish his kingdom forever.
So how can we let these guiding lights have a practical impact on our day? By delving deeply into the roots of our faith on a daily basis. The deeper we dig into them, the more they’ll shape our minds and lift up our hearts.
The most exciting result we experience as we ask the Spirit to build up our faith is that we find ourselves loving Jesus more and more deeply. We find ourselves so firmly rooted in him that our hearts are filled with love, gratitude, and joy because of who Jesus is and what he is doing in our lives. And most of all, being rooted in Christ shows us just how wonderful and beautiful and glorious Jesus is.
“Thank you, Jesus, for being my rock of salvation. Teach me how to build my life on your eternal truths!”
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